Sydney Morning Herald deputy sports editor

Tough day at the office: Wests Tigers veterans Robbie Farah and Pat Richards during the loss to St George Illawarra. Photo: Getty Images

For three very different reasons, the three big improvers in Sydney's west are in danger of missing the finals.

Penrith, Parramatta and the Wests Tigers missed the finals last year and all three looked decent chances to make this year's playoffs - the Panthers were even, and still are, minor premiership contenders - but now the horizon in the golden west is looking rather clouded with all three teams facing tough schedules in the closing six rounds.

Panthers halfback Peter Wallace's season-ending knee injury in the loss to Cronulla leaves Jamie Soward carrying the play-making can. He can shoulder this load but the hard thing for him will be that every opposition defender will know to target him even more so than usual. If gun young fullback Matt Moylan can take the pressure off in this area.

Parramatta have seemingly run out of fuel. They have been extremely up and down recently and it appears the surprise factor they enjoyed early in the season is long since gone and they're struggling to grind their way to the end of a long campaign.

Advertisement

The Tigers have nobody to blame but front office. If you look up how not to sort out a coaching situation in Rugby League for Dummies, it would be all about how the Wests Tigers have stuffed up. Mick Potter, in his first NRL gig, was told his assistant coaches would be two of the other candidates for the top job. He's managed to turn a rabble into a half-decent team with a sniff of a finals berth but the joint-venture club in all its many factions has dithered about whether to re-sign him, resulting in a near-unworkable situation. Perhaps the LeagueHQ readers should take over the club - they are much more decisive. In our poll asking should Potter be re-signed, around 90 per cent of them say he should be given another contract.

1. Sea Eagles (1): With a four-point gap at the top of the ladder, they have one talon on the minor premiership, which of course means a home final, which in turn means the Manly faithful will moan about not getting a playoff match at Brookvale, which will lead to the NRL saying they have to play at Allianz Stadium and inevitably, a poor crowd at what should be a showpiece match. Head office will cross fingers and hope a well-followed side like Souths will be Manly's first-up finals opponents.

2. Rabbitohs (5): The big win in Canberra on Monday night was notable for the sterling form of halfback Adam Reynolds and the partnership he displayed alongside Luke Keary when John Sutton went off injured. Sutton won't be back until the finals so supercoach Maguire will finally get to use Plan A from the pre-season with Reynolds partnering Keary now the five-eighth is back to full fitness. Sutton will return in the back row.

3. Roosters (2): All the press has been about Sonny Bill Williams being out a month with a broken thumb but don't underestimate the impact of Mitch Aubusson being sidelined with an ankle problem. Their absence could mean a few more results like last Friday's upset in Newcastle.

4. Bulldogs (3): Josh Reynolds is back from suspension this weekend. The Tony Williams at five-eighth experiment was innovative but it had a very short shelf life.

5. Panthers (4): The loss of Peter Wallace has forced supercoach Cleary to switch Jamie Soward to halfback and hand an NRL debut to Will Smith. Cue the namesake jokes and the Men In Black music when the Panthers next run out. DJ Jazzy Sowie and the Fresh Prince.

6. Warriors (6): They were without halfback Shaun Johson and Feleti Mateo yet they still gave competition pacesetters Manly a good run for their money.

7. Storm (7): The 30-8 win in Brisbane was their second on the bounce and supercoach Bellamy's boys are back up to sixth and face only two teams above them in their remaining six matches.

8. Cowboys (8): Two wins in Sydney in a row means it's time to give North Queensland a little credit. Supercoach Green welcomes back Matt Scott for this weekend's clash with Gold Coast in Townsville. It's suddenly all coming up Milhouse up north.

9. Dragons (11): Similar to the poll about the Tigers, last week's question about whether St George Illawarra should give interim supercoach McGregor a permanent gig has drawn an overwhelming vote of confidence - more than 80 per cent.

10. Eels (12): They remain on the cusp of the finals but are still too reliant on Jarryd Hayne.

11. Broncos (10): The weirdest thing about Brisbane's fullback signing bonanza - Darius Boyd probably joining Anthony Milford in becoming Broncos next year when Ben Barba and Josh Hoffman are already at the club - is Justin Hodges' best position is at the back but due to varying circumstances, has spent most of his career in the centres.

12. Tigers (9): The seemingly rushed boardroom verdict on Sunday to grant supercoach Potter a stay of execution until the end of the season continued the amateur hour theme of such decisions this season. If anyone is able to make a decision at this club without needing to meet quorum requirements or conduct phone hook-ups with all the warring factions, hurry up and do so. The team will have no chance of making the finals if the off-field stability continues to linger.

13. Titans (13): And they think they can make the finals when they couldn't even win at home against Parramatta.

14. Knights (14): It's a shame the players showed tremendous heart and commitment to pull off an upset on home soil five days after their loyal fans, and injured forward Alex McKinnon, packed Hunter Stadium to see them do just that.

15. Sharks (16): They don't deserve the wooden spoon - the win over the Panthers proved this team has not turned up its toes despite many obstacles this year.

16. Raiders (15): They deserve the wooden spoon - the loss at home to the Rabbitohs proved this team has turned up its toes despite few obstacles this year.